From the Center of America
Steamboats and Shipyards Along the Lower Ohio River
Series: Shawnee Books;
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Product details:
- Publisher Southern Illinois University Press
- Date of Publication 1 May 2026
- ISBN 9780809339839
- Binding Paperback
- No. of pages248 pages
- Size 254x203 mm
- Weight 454 g
- Language English
- Illustrations 98 700
Categories
Long description:
Charting the legacy of mid-America's shipyards and iconic steamboats
Before the railroad stitched together the American landscape, the dominant mode of transportation in the United States was by steamboat. These grand vessels, their iconic paddlewheels churning the country's rivers, have long captured the national imagination as symbols of innovation and adventure.
In the heart of America, four major rivers converge—the Cumberland and Tennessee with the Ohio; then the Ohio with the Mississippi. These three confluences, which author Robert Swenson christens the Four Rivers Reach, played a unique role in the development of the steamboats that dominated American continental transport for almost 100 years. Between 1825 and 1936, the river towns of Smithland, Paducah, Metropolis, Mound City, and Cairo launched 295 wood-hulled, steam-powered vessels. Drawing from a wealth of archival sources, Swenson presents detailed histories of these steamboats over a span of 110 years, accompanied by nearly one hundred illustrations and photographs.
The book focuses on distinct events in steamboat history, tracing the impact of these shipyards on the economies and communities of the river towns where they were built. It reveals how the availability of steamboats along this sixty-mile Reach affected migration, politics, and the US economy of the nineteenth century. Steamboats built at the Four Rivers Reach played pivotal roles in the forced relocation of Native Americans from southern Appalachia to Oklahoma, the outcome of the Civil War, and the Montana gold rush. From the Center of America demonstrates how steamboat building shaped the culture, people, and economy of this region—and how, in turn, the area and its steamships influenced the growth of the young United States.
MoreTable of Contents:
Contents
Acknowledgments
Note to Readers
Preface
Introduction
- Canoe Age, Flatboat/Keelboat Age and Early Steam: Pre-History to 1830
- The Golden Age of Steamboats: 1830 to 1860
- Civil War, Missouri River: 1860 to 1870
- Life along the Reach: The Economy, Packets, and Towboats, 1870 to 1880
- Cottonboats, Packets, Towboats, Railroads, and New Bridges: 1880 to 1900
- Twilight of the Four Rivers Reach: Steamboat-Building Industry, 1900 to 1936
Conclusion
Bibliography
Photograph Collections Visited and Referenced
Notes
Index
More
